


Frozen Time

by Miss_Turing



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, xxxHoLic
Genre: F/M, Gen, Immortality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 07:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12031203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Turing/pseuds/Miss_Turing
Summary: After the well closed off, Kagome was sad and bored. But mostly, she was bored, so terribly bored of the present. One day, she sees Doumeki-sensei walk into a beautifully built old-fashioned house, and curious, she ends up following him inside...





	Frozen Time

**Author's Note:**

> Fic from FFN I cleaned up/edited a bit before posting. Enjoy!

It was now five months since the well had been blocked off, five months since she'd seen the Feudal Era and her beloved friends there… Five months since she got the normal life she longed for since two and a half years ago.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was bored and moping... adjusting to the present but moping nevertheless. Thanks to her mother, however, she was starting to move on; her mother got fed up and wouldn't "tolerate her shit anymore" (in nicer terms of course. Inuyasha was a bad influence on her choice of vocabulary, and thanks to him, her mind now occasionally "translated" things into a cruder form).

Her mother was generous enough to give her about a month to mope around, sniffling, haunting her room, and being a useless waste of space shriveling up in her room out of desolation. She didn't even have the willpower to go see if the well magically decided to let her through since she already knew that it wouldn't; it was part of the price she paid in order to guarantee that the Shikon Jewel would no longer cause the world any more harm.

After her depressingly unproductive month was up, her mother dragged her out of the room and gave her an ultimatum: become a miko for the family shrine, find a job, go back to school and graduate high school… not necessarily in that order of course.

Her mother seemed to be onto something though. Busy with studying, maintaining the shrine, and being polite to the customers that came to the café that she part-timed at, she hadn't had much time to dwell on the past and all she'd lost in that single moment. As long as she didn't think about it, she learned that her heart didn't ache as much; most days, she could delude herself into thinking she was the same as she was before she fell into the well: an ordinary, happy teenage girl. However, she could never get rid of that feeling of boredom that seemed to haunt her, taunting her that she was no longer in the dangerous, but exciting past; as far as she was aware, demons and spirits were no around…

* * *

It had been many years since her return. She was still bored, but now, she was lonelier and sadder than ever before: she was now alone. Grandpa was first: he died peacefully in his sleep – a stroke, the doctors told her family. Then Souta, who had grown up to become a fine young man ("But you'll always be my little brother," Kagome teased as she ruffled his hair) went off to college to Kyushu University with his childhood sweetheart Hitomi. Kagome and her mother were very proud of Souta's achievement, but they noticed that the house was a lot quieter without him there. On some days, Kagome let herself silently wish that Souta went to a university closer to home.

Then, on one ordinary day, her mother got hit by a drunk driver. While the paramedics did their best to save her, she died even before she reached the hospital.

Kagome was devastated – the drunk driver's incarceration was of no consolation – but she was used to mourning by now; she could handle it.

She continued on in a daze with her mundane life – eating, sleeping, caring for the shrine – until one day, she got a brutal wake up call.

"Hey beautiful, want to join us for a fun time?" a group of immature high-school boys asked her. "You're kidding, right? I'm definitely too old for you guys," she replied with a deadpan expression on her face. "You, an old hag? You look like you're our age 'lady'," the guys snickered as they called her an "old hag" and "lady" in jest. "Thanks, but no thanks." Kagome left.

Out of curiosity though, she went home and checked the mirror. 'Okay, maybe the boys were onto something…' While she knew that she would most likely age well – her mother looked like she was still only thirty five when she died at the age of fifty two – Kagome knew that this was borderline ridiculous. As the boys said, she looked exactly the same as she did when she was still in her teenage years, despite being– Hey! Don't ask a lady her age! It's rude! It was definitely an odd way to realize this though; was she really that out of it nowadays? 'Ack! I bet I can't even go drinking at a decent bar. They'd card me then tell me that I was using my mother's I.D. or something if I showed them mine, and maybe even call the police on me…'

Realizing that she was going to be on Earth significantly longer than she realized, she made a note to herself to warn Souta the next time he called (though he might've figured it out already even with infrequent visits; he wasn't stupid after all, or he would've never gotten into Kyudai). Also, to help her kill time, she decided to find out what happened to her friends from the Feudal Era all those years ago.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Satou-san, the librarian, replied. "We don't have anything else that can help you with your search," the kind lady who was helping her broke the news to her. "If it's not in the books, on the internet, or the public records, you won't be finding your information somewhere easily accessible like a library." 

"Then where? Where can I find out?" she questioned Satou-san, trying not so sound desperate.

"A university would be your best bet, dear. While you might need a Masters or PhD to access some of the more sensitive or obscure information, a good university would be your best bet: they not only have resources that aren't accessible to the general public, but professors who dedicate their lives to researching this kind of thing."

"So, in other words…" Kagome stated hesitantly.

"Yes. You'd have to take the entrance exams," Satou-san answered her unvoiced question, crushing her denial and delusions with her words.

Something in Kagome broke a little at the sound of that. 'Not more math?!' she sobbed in a corner of her mind.

Eventually, Kagome was coherent enough to thank Satou-san and returned home to the shrine. She had to figure out what she needed to study to ace her exams.

* * *

Okay. She had the funds (Thank you, shrine!). She had the knowledge (She studied harder than she had ever studied in her entire life, desperately clutching at this goal of hers), and she had the courage to take the exam (After the events of the Feudal Era, it was not a big deal, despite what her sweaty palms told her). Now, it was the moment of truth: She would soon find out if all her efforts were enough… that is, if she could make her way past the hordes of people in front of the postings who were trying to do the same thing as her. The people, each desperately chanting a number in their heads – their number – looked for that number, the number that would decide their fate. Kagome heard many groans, sighs of defeat and even heard a few people burst out crying. The lucky few burst out cheering. 

Hoping for the best, she was doing the same.

'84… 84… 84… Yes!' It was official. She had made it in. Starting in a few months from now, she would be an official student of Tokyo University.

* * *

While meandering randomly around the streets after classes were over, Kagome spotted someone in the distance, someone that was – or looked very similar to – her folklore studies professor Doumeki-sensei. 'Maybe this would be a good time to pick his brain, though it's strange seeing a teacher outside of school…'

Before she could catch up to him, however, she saw him walk in, carrying grocery bags, into the gates of a beautiful, old fashioned house. However, instead of being built in a traditional Japanese style like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, it was built with more European influences in mind as well. 'Maybe the people who built the place were Anglophiles? Though I didn't expect a teacher, even if he's a college professor, to live in a house like that…Maybe it's inherited; he can't possibly make enough money for a house like that."

When she reached the wrought-iron gates, she couldn't help but stare inside where the house was located. It was beautiful. Before she could stop herself, her hand – against her will – reached for the gates and opened them, causing the gates to creak in protest. Her feet walked closer towards the building. When she felt a strange aura wash over her when she entered the property, she became wary. To her horror, however, her body betrayed her and kept walking forward. Her body walked up the steps, opened the tall doors attached to the front of the house, and walked her into a stranger's house. Something was definitely off here. Her heart started beating rapidly in anticipation.

When she walked through the short hallway into what she was assuming was the living room, she walked into a strange scene. Doumeki-sensei was sitting on the floor next to two girls that looked identical enough to be twins, a strange creature that looked like a fat bunny, and a large sake bottle. He seemed to be drinking sake from a small, porcelain cup the size of a shot glass and steadfastly ignoring the two girls, one of whom was pulling on his hair. The bunny thing was jumping around while holding a cup that was identical to the one in Doumeki-sensei's hand. She assumed that it was drinking the sake with her professor. 'Is that even legal?'

Awkwardly, she decided to let her presence be known by the occupants of the room, hoping that that would be the key to allowing her free movement again.

"Umm, I'm sorry I rudely barged in, but–"

Before Kagome could finish talking, she was interrupted by the two girls that suddenly ran up to her and grabbed her hands.

"A guest! It's a guest! Watanuki, there's a guest here!"

She noticed a petite man around her (physical) age walk in the room, most likely due to the girls' yelling. He was wearing large, round glasses, a frilly, pink apron that was tied around his torso, a bandana that was wrapped around his head. He was holding a ladle, unconsciously waving it in the air while he walked further into the room. The man – Watanuki? – looked frazzled. When he noticed her standing there in the hallway, his face turned red.

"Why didn't you guys tell me before she came inside?! I could've gotten ready!" he started ranting at the two girls still holding her hands. Soon, he calmed down and started addressing her – "Welcome to my shop. My–" – but he was interrupted by Doumeki-sensei.

"Higurashi-san?" "You know her?" Her face flushed red, matching Watanuki-san's,face from moments ago. She was mortified. The words burst out of her mouth, fueled by her embarrassment. "I didn't mean to walk in! It was an accident, I swear! I know you won't believe me, but my body did this against its will." For some reason, she felt like she was channeling Miroku before she realized that that probably wasn't the best comparison to make at the moment, if ever. "I swear I'm not stalking Doumeki-sensei or anything..." "It's fine, Higurashi-san. It seems to be a common occurrence, believe it or not*. As I tried to explain before I was so rudely cut off," he glared at Doumeki-sensei for a moment. "My name is Watanuki, and I'm the temporary owner of this shop. You may not believe me, but this is a shop that sells wishes."

* * *

"…You sell… wishes…?" Kagome asked hesitantly. The existence of such a shop seemed a bit ludicrous to her, but she desperately wanted Watanuki's words to be true . "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Essentially, every person able to see -- and walk into -- this shop has a wish that they want granted. By trading me something equally valuable to them, such as something like a cherished treasure, a memory, or a part of their power, I can either grant them their wish or give them the push they need to be able to fulfill their own wish, " Watanuki answered. "However, there are some obvious limitations, one of which will not allow me to take another person's life."

"Oh. Is that so?" Kagome asked somewhat dejectedly. "Is there anything you can do to help me?"

Watanuki looked into her watering eyes and realized that they had similar, aged eyes. He studied her a bit closer before sitting down on the tatami mats on the floor, gesturing for her to do the same. The girls holding on to her hands let go before running off into the corridor Watanuki came through. Doumeki-sensei and the bunny stood up, grabbed the bottle of sake and shot glasses, and left through the same corridor.

Watanuki reached for a kiseru pipe sitting nearby, lighting it before turning back to study Kagome once more.

Inhale.

Exhale smoke.

Inhale.

Exhale smoke.

Finally, Watanuki began to speak. "Unfortunately, I don’t think there's much I can do for you at this point in time. Most of your wishes are not only prohibitively expensive but also not in my power to grant. However, while I know it's not your true wish, if you'd like, I can tell you what happened to your friends once you left them in exchange for something that belonged to them; however, you'll need an item for each friend you wish to learn about.

"Also, regarding your burden… While my circumstances are different, I'm going to be living in this shop for a rather long time. You are more than welcome to visit at any time. It would be nice to have human company that understands the weight of immortality."

* * *

Watanuki ended up being right: while it was nice to know that her friends lived out happy lives before their passing, the knowledge wasn't what she truly desired; she still dearly missed them. It was interesting, though, that in a way, her friends were still looking out for her even after their deaths; apparently, Eri was one of Sango and Miroku's descendants, while Yuka was Shippo and Rin's (she was definitely not expecting them to become? have been? a couple; time travel made verb tenses tricky). After discovering this fact, she regretted that she lost contact with the two (and Ayumi) as the years went by, even though she knew that it wouldn’t have been possible to stay friends with them without them discovering her eternal youth. While she knew that they would've accepted her anyway, she didn't want to involve them in the supernatural; even just the knowledge that the Shikon existed might have been enough to drag them into her mess.

As the years passed, she grew closer to Kimihiro and his group of friends. She befriended Himawari and Kohane, and was even a bridesmaid at Kohane and Shizuka's wedding (and while she loved her friends, wow that was an awkward marriage; it was a bit too practical for her tastes). She also got to witness Kimihiro and Himawari's not-relationship, where despite their feelings, they were unable to be together. While it would've been nice to be able to help the two, unfortunately, there was nothing she could do for them except ferry messages and give them privacy on Kimihiro's birthday.

While it was an honor for the Doumekis to name her and Kimihiro as Ritsuka's godparents, it was bittersweet seeing her friends age, knowing one day that they would leave her behind. When the melancholy got to be too much, she would retreat to the shop's shed, where eventually, Kimihiro would come find her (and occasionally brood with her).  As he mentioned in their first meeting, it was nice having company that understood their burden.

While it still hurt to live on some days, Kagome, for the most part, was content. She was living once more. 

* * *

Kagome noticed Sayaka holding an egg while looking like he was in deep thought. He seemed conflicted.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked Asuka's son.

"It's… nothing," Sayaka replied. "It's just…

"Don't tell Watanuki. Promise me," Sayaka demanded.

"If it's that important to you, I won't," Kagome promised.

Sayaka took a deep breath before he started to explain. "Yuko-san gave my great-grandfather this egg.  She said that it would be used for an important decision. She implied that Great-Grandfather would know when the time was right, but he never ended up using it. Instead, the egg has been passed along with our duties to Watanuki-san.

"I can feel that the time to use it approaches, but I can't figure out why. Has Watanuki-san's heart changed?"

"What… exactly is it supposed to do?" Kagome asked. Sayaka answered, "My father told me that the general belief is that it will take Watanuki-san's memories of Yuko-san away, once he is ready."

"But… Isn't that a bit extreme? He's been waiting for Yuko-san this whole time. To take that away from him…"

Sayaka responded, "My ancestors and I all agree with you. However, the egg is reacting after all this time has passed. I'm not sure what else it could mean."

Kagome thought about the issue, trying to see if there was an alternate path available. She studied the aura coming off the egg carefully.

"Sayaka-kun, would you mind giving me that egg? I think I can grant Kimihiro-kun his wish with it."

Sayaka's eyes widened in shock before returning to normal. He stayed silent, thinking on Kagome's request. While he knew Kagome was powerful -- she had to be to live this long without the shop's help, after all -- he wasn't quite sure how it would be possible for anyone to grant Watanuki's wish.

"Please, Sayaka-kun. Just trust me."

Sayaka handed over the egg to Kagome.

* * *

"... I wish..."

* * *

Watanuki heard footsteps behind him, so he turned around to face his visitor. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hello, Watanuki. Sorry about the wait. Thank you for taking care of the shop for me…"

* * *

 Kagome started feeling the passage of time once more. She let out a sigh of relief before walking away from the shop.

**Author's Note:**

> While I'm happy I finished this fic, It's kind of annoying looking back at it and seeing all the stupid plot holes. I want to fix them, but even now, I'm not quite sure how, so I'm handwaving them all off. Kind of lame of me but ehh, I'll live. ^^;;
> 
> Also, I originally started writing this with the intention that it'd be a oneshot. While I squished it back into one for Ao3, I split it into chapters at FFN out of laziness. I think I like the pacing better with this fic in a chapter format, but now I'm too lazy to split it. Well then. At least you guys don't have to deal with my obnoxious commentary at the end of each chapter? (Though if you're interested, the original version of this thing's on my FFN.)


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